Suicide over a job

I feel screwed at 50 by corporations....here I am 50 years old, loads of experience, energetic and young looking I might add...can't find a job...my jobs are being given to 25 year olds with 1/4 the experience.  My recent experience is with CPI or better known as picture me portrait studio..read previous blogs.  What do we do about this?  I am left feeling worthless, depressed and seeing no point in going on I do not see anything changing at all!!!  Thank you to the District Manager a women I might add Pam Copeland for judging me not on my ability but my age.

Picture me Portrait Studio

Thank you for your response...forgive me if I have no faith in this action...I really do not see that anything will be done and the damage is already done.  You can look for my Tweet's about this and your company..I am curious to see how many others this has happened to.  I know of at least 10 people in my area alone.  I plan to research the employment laws here in Tennessee to see if this is even legal.  I also intend to start a blog about my experience with Picture me Portrait Studios.  In this economy I can not understand why an employer would take excellent employees and treat them in this manner.  I also can not understand why employees would not value there fortune in having a job, just as I did.  In my brief experience with your company, it seems they had a great deal of trouble getting the employees they had to even come to work.  Answer their phones or even respond to a text.  So employees like me picked up the slack happily.  Those people are curiously still employed  while I on the other hand am writing this e-mail.  I have obtained the names and the address for all of your board of directors, and company officers and intend to send them the same e-mail.  I have no doubt that I am wasting my time but never the less intend to pursue this matter. When I questioned my District Manager about this she gave me a speech that sounded as if she were reading from a script.  So that tells me that she herself was trained to do business in this manner.  I have an excellent employee and sales record.  The training I received completely undermined my confidence in my own abilities, shame on me for allowing that to happen.  We do live in an economically depressed area making it difficult to find jobs where those skills are valued.  I counted my self lucky to have found a company I believed valued those skills, in sales, customer service and marketing, and I thought appreciated my experience and maturity, I was very wrong. Again thank you very much for your prompt response, as I said I have no faith that this will even do any good and the damage to myself and my family has already been done.  I will say I have sent several e-mails to my district manager, with no response...I have only been told she does not know what will happen to my job, but that she can not let everyone go she will have no one, and that is it is performance  based...having been in the studio only two weeks and having any attempt at selling taken over by the "manager in training"  I do not know how anyone's performance could possibly be evaluated. I am sure there will be a valid " factious" excuse for this kind of behavior.   I am sure my abilities will come under attack.   Unfortunately that is the kind of behavior that comes with competitive sales.  I will say does not allow for good customer service.  I am as competitive as the next person and would not have been successful at sales if I were not, but I know that the customer comes first and refuse to argue in front of a customer.  So when my manager in training behaved in this manner, I let it go, until we were in private.  Losing a customer for a company over petty competitiveness  is not the way business should be done. I will not say I am the best in my field...there is always someone better, but I have done quite well at every sales job I have ever had and I have been treated with respect.  Again thank you for your time. 

Picture me Portrait Studio

I was contacted by the corporate office Human Resources director.
Thank you for your response...forgive me if I have no faith in this action...I really do not see that anything will be done and the damage is already done.  You can look for my Tweet's about this and your company..I am curious to see how many others this has happened to.  I know of at least 10 people in my area alone.  I plan to research the employment laws here in Tennessee to see if this is even legal.  I also intend to start a blog about my experience with Picture me Portrait Studios.  In this economy I can not understand why an employer would take excellent employees and treat them in this manner.  I also can not understand why employees would not value there fortune in having a job, just as I did.  In my brief experience with your company, it seems they had a great deal of trouble getting the employees they had to even come to work.  Answer their phones or even respond to a text.  So employees like me picked up the slack happily.  Those people are curiously still employed  while I on the other hand am writing this e-mail.  I have obtained the names and the address for all of your board of directors, and company officers and intend to send them the same e-mail.  I have no doubt that I am wasting my time but never the less intend to pursue this matter. When I questioned my District Manager about this she gave me a speech that sounded as if she were reading from a script.  So that tells me that she herself was trained to do business in this manner.  I have an excellent employee and sales record.  The training I received completely undermined my confidence in my own abilities, shame on me for allowing that to happen.  We do live in an economically depressed area making it difficult to find jobs where those skills are valued.  I counted my self lucky to have found a company I believed valued those skills, in sales, customer service and marketing, and I thought appreciated my experience and maturity, I was very wrong. Again thank you very much for your prompt response, as I said I have no faith that this will even do any good and the damage to myself and my family has already been done.  I will say I have sent several e-mails to my district manager, with no response...I have only been told she does not know what will happen to my job, but that she can not let everyone go she will have no one, and that is it is performance  based...having been in the studio only two weeks and having any attempt at selling taken over by the "manager in training"  I do not know how anyone's performance could possibly be evaluated. I am sure there will be a valid " factious" excuse for this kind of behavior.   I am sure my abilities will come under attack.   Unfortunately that is the kind of behavior that comes with competitive sales.  I will say does not allow for good customer service.  I am as competitive as the next person and would not have been successful at sales if I were not, but I know that the customer comes first and refuse to argue in front of a customer.  So when my manager in training behaved in this manner, I let it go, until we were in private.  Losing a customer for a company over petty competitiveness  is not the way business should be done. I will not say I am the best in my field...there is always someone better, but I have done quite well at every sales job I have ever had and I have been treated with respect.  Again thank you for your time. 

Picture me Portrait Studios: Picture me Portrait Studio

Picture me Portrait Studios: Picture me Portrait Studio: As of today January 2, 2012 the head of personal in the district office has called and spoken to me on this matter, apologizing but offering...

Picture me Portrait Studio

As of today January 2, 2012 the head of personal in the district office has called and spoken to me on this matter, apologizing but offering no solution for me.  I have yet to hear from the district manager Pam Copeland and still do not know if I am employed or not I am assuming not.  LOL  I would like to know who else out there has had a similar experience with this or any other company.

Picture me Portrait Studio

To anyone out there who has ever been an employee of Picture me Portrait Studio I would like to relay my experience with them. I would like to let someone know of my experience with your company in Crossville Tennessee.  I am notifying you before I file a formal complaint with the Dept of Labor and the Tennessee human rights commission.   I was hired by Pam Copeland the district manager for your company in Crossville Tennessee   around the 1st. of December.  I have vast experience in Retail, Marketing, Sales In and outbound sales and management.  After passing all of the assessments I was then sent for training.  When hired I was hired as a full time manager in training.

I went to training in your Algood, Tennessee store with two seasonal associates.  After one day of training by someone named Stephanie, I do not know her last name...I was told by one of the seasonal associates that my trainer felt I might not be right for the management position and that she had been asked to be the manager.  This was disturbing 1) My experience and age far exceeded this girls 2) I had not had enough training with your company for anyone to make that decision. 3) No one had spoken to me.  I continued my training such as it was with the two other seasonal associates. The longer I trained the more concerned I became that I was not going to be prepared to work in the studio much less manage it...I had never experienced this kind of disorganization in training before...I have worked for major corporations.  I expressed my concern to the district manager at the lack of training and becoming the manager.  The position was given to the younger women.  I was told that I would be given another full time position in another store as a manager when I completed my training.

I then went into the studio and effectively learned what I needed from hands on training. During  my two weeks, the new manager, was not available by phone....she was not available on call...I took her on call days.  She became upset when anything was discussed with here concerning the studio, she became upset when the schedule was discussed with her.  We were then told not to discuss anything with her to discuss everything with the District Manager.  She brought her children to work with her.  I e-mailed my district manager and told her my feelings on all of this and that I felt I was more qualified to be the manager.  I also said if that was not to be the case or she felt that I was not ready that was fine, I would continue to work as an associate until she felt I was ready. 

During our time there, the manager told many customers not to have their pictures taken unless she was in the studio, that she was the only one qualified to take the photos, and many customers canceled their appointments,  if she was there with us she would then take over the customer explaining to them the exact same thing.  I did discuss this with her and she did tell me that it was her studio and she could do as she pleased.  I kept a detailed record of these occurrences.  

My last scheduled day was December 24, 2011  I went to the Cookeville store to work, during that week other associates had covered that store due to the fact that they were unable to reach the associates there to work, I believe they just did not show up for work.  That day I called my district manager due to my concern that there was no schedule, I asked her then when I would be working, she told me she did not know, I was then told by my manager that she was only allotted 55 hours and she had to work 32 and she had another long time employee that she had to give 23 hours to.  That left no hours.  My district manager then went out of town. 

I have been given no firm answer as to being still employed by CPI or not.  I have not been told anything.  I have not  been let go, laid off or given any answer what so ever.   At this point I have filed for my unemployment, telling them of these circumstances.  Which are highly unethical.   This is not a right to work state but there are however certain rules every company has to follow.  I find it extremely difficult to believe a company would conduct business in this manner.  I believe I now understand why there is such a large turnover in the stores in my district.

I was hired not as seasonal, but as a full time employee manager in training, I certainly understand if my district manager does not feel I am ready for that position, what I do not understand is the lack of communication and dishonesty.  If I had been told that I was being hired only for Christmas, I would not have taken the job.  I was blatantly lied to.  I am not the only employee who was done this way.  I was blatantly  passed over for an employee who is 27 years my junior and less qualified.  

I showed up for work on time every day, went to other locations, gave excellent customer service, did all of duties with competence, I was never counseled, written up or even talked to.   I am at a complete loss.  I now feel compelled to see that this does not happen to anyone else.

I realize like all sales positions, this is performance based, I do not feel being undermined by the current manager in training and two weeks in the studio would be a good example of your performance.   I am completely surprised these studios do as well as they do considering the unqualified personal currently working there.  People who are extremely rude, argue with the customers, I saw several examples of that, people who do not even bother to show up for work, yet still have a job.  I am going to continue to pursue every avenue of complaint with this situation until I feel satisfied that my concerns and my experiences has been addressed.  I will write every manager in your company up to and including the CEO.  I believe I will even write the media.  It may not do any good but it certainly can not hurt.  Please do not mistake this e-mail as a plea to continue my employment with your company.  I would not work for your company now under any circumstances.  I am just appalled that in these economic times a company as large as yours would allow this kind of treatment of employees.